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LAFAYETTE HOUGHTON BUNNELL, M.D.. 
DISCOVERER OF THE YOSEMITE 

By HOWARD A. KELLY, M.D. 

BALTIMORE, MD. 



REPRINTED FROM VOLUME III, NUMBER 2 

ANNALS OF MEDICAL HISTORY 

PUBLISHED BY PAUL B. HOEBER, NEW YORK 



"i 



_T 



r 



r 



PAUL B. HOEBER, 67-7 1 EAST 59TH STREET, NEW YORK 



^I 



L 



LAFAYETTE HOUGHTON BUNNELL, M.D., DISCOVERER 

OF THE YOSEMFFE 



I 



By HOWARD A. KELLY, ALD. 

BALTIMORE, MD. 



^^'^\^ 




FEW great discoveries have passed 
into history without the con- 
troversy of conflicting claims, 
whether it be the discovery of an 
America or of a telephone, of antisepsis or a 
Sims's specukmi, or the operation for fistula. 
The thoughtful student of history will, I 
think, conckide that there is often much to 
be said in justification of many of these 
forgotten priority disputants, and that 
almost invariably some meed of credit 
denied by a careless posterity is their due. 
The busy working world, dramatic in its 
impulses, and too pressed to stop to analyze 
claims to adjudicate varying degrees of 
merit, gladly seizes a prominent, much 
advertised name which has caught its fancy 
and adopts that as the best peg for memory's 
facts. If, as with Marion Sims in his vesico- 
vaginal fistula operation, the world learns 
that he has persisted through years of dis- 
couraging effort, and through thirty or forty 
operations on a poor negro wench until at 
last the success, which had eluded centuries 
of eflfort, crowns his skill, and if it then sees 
him quit his plantation home and journey 
abroad to teach the great surgeons of the 
world how to operate, and then to cap the 
climax beholds him bemedalled and honored 
by kings, queens and potentates, while 
arousing the jealousy of eminent competi- 
tors — then the world gives a sigh of satisfac- 
tion and rests content, and writes that name 
down on the page of history as the indis- 
putable claimant. Usually the world is 
correct in its estimate, but it still remains 
the grateful task of the student of history 
to scrutinize more closely the events leading 
up to the great discovery and to assign vary- 
ing degrees of merit to forgotten heroes 
who have toiled to lay the foundation on 



which to erect the monument. I do not note 
that this subseciuent investigation of the 
contributing factors with the assigning of a 
share of credit to others has ever yet hurt 
the principal claimant; rather is his merit 
enhanced as he stands thus primus inter 
pares. 

With these obvious and salutary reflec- 
tions I would lead up to a matter in which, 
among other claimants, not too pressing, 
the true discoverer has been forgotten, and 
I would here reassert his claim to an im- 
portant discovery; I refer to Lafayette 
Houghton Bunnell, ALD., the discoverer 
of the Yoscmite Valley of California in 
the year 1 85 1 . The importance of the matter 
lies in the fact that in all this vast country 
there exists no such remarkable grandiose 
scenery as in the Yosemite; we are glad, 
therefore, to hail a fellow craftsman as the 
one whose imagination was first fired by the 
mystery of the park, who kept it in mind 
and eagerly embraced the first opportunity 
to enter, and who journeyed in with a 
juvenile enthusiasm and then and there 
proposed its name — "Yosemite." 

I will relate how my interest in Bunnell 
was awakened, and then give his history, 
and summarize his claims. 

Dr. William Browning, the well-known 
neurologist and bibliographer, wrote an 
entertaining paper entitled "Some of our 
Medical Explorers and Adventurers."' 

In the Medical Record for November 23, 
191 8, appeared a letter from Dr. H. E. W. 
Barnes, of Santa Ana, California, in which, 
after expressing his interest in Dr. Browning's 
article, he regrets the omission of Dr. Bun- 
nell's name, cites his achievement in the Yose- 
mite and states that "he wrote a book on this 

' Med. Rec, October 26, 1918. 



179 






i8o 



Annals of Medical History 



discovery that is a frontier classic. To him 
and his courageous companions forever will 
remain the honor of first visiting this myster- 
ious valley and making known to the world 
the majesty and splendor of its unsurpassed 
scenic beauty. ... It would be scant 
justice to the memory and merit of the 
intrepid Dr. L. H. Bunnell if his name is not 
inchided in the Hst of Dr. Browning's 
immortals." 

Inasmuch as there was here clearly a 
chance to enhance the honor of our profes- 
sion, I wrote at once to Dr. Barnes, to 
Dr. Browning, to the publishers of Bunnell's 
book, to hbraries in localities where the 
name of Bunnell might be known, or where 
large collections of books might be found, 
and to many individuals. Replies were 
courteous, but for some time absolutely 
no information was forthcoming; Bunnell 
seemed to be but a name, almost a myth, 
although the author of an interesting book. 
. In time, tiny clues rewarded persistent 
efforts until gradually from many threads 
has been woven a complete history of this 
man who was the means of bringing to 
notice this wonderful terra incognita. 

Lafayette Houghton Bunnell was born 
in Rochester, New York, in March, 1824, 
son of Bradley Bunnell, a physician, and 
Charlotte Houghton. Bradley Bunnell, the 
father, was born in New London, Connecti- 
cut, in 1 78 1 and seems to have lived in 
different places in New York State. In 
1828 he had been in Detroit, Michigan, 
practised medicine, had made friends with 
many of the early pioneers, and purchased 
land. His name appears in the Detroit city 
directory for 1837. 

Lafayette's mother, Charlotte Houghton, 
came of the family after whom Houghton 
Square, London, was named. She was 
born in Windsor, Vermont, daughter of 
James Houghton and granddaughter of 
James Houghton, patriot in the American 
Revolution, who was killed by a Tory in a 
local affray. Douglas Houghton, dis- 



tinguished naturalist and physician, was 
a cousin of Charlotte Bunnell's; he was 
born in Troy, New York, September 21, 
1 810 and from his youth was interested in 
nature. He experimented with percussion 
powder (but lately invented), and bore the 
marks of an explosion. He graduated at the 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was 
afterward a member of the faculty. In 
1 83 1 the Medical Society of Chautauqua 
County gave him a license to practise, and 
he went as physician and botanist on the 
Henry R. Schoolcraft Government Ex- 
pedition to explore the sources of the Mis- 
sissippi River. He had an extensive knowl- 
edge of the flora of the northwest, practised 
in Detroit from 1832 to 1837, projected the 
Geological Survey of Michigan and was 
appointed state geologist. In 1838 he gave 
scientific lectures at Detroit, and was 
mayor of Detroit in 1842. While at work 
on a new government survey he was 
drowned in a heavy sea in Lake Superior, 
October 13, 1845. 

This man was an inspiration in the life 
of Lafayette Bunnell, who tells of listening 
to his stories of adventure, declaring that 
"these conversations were overheard by an 
observant child of good memory, and they 
made him ambitious of adventure, and 
just a little romantic. They were not the 
least injurious from a moral point of view, 
for he thought to emulate Dr. Houghton 
in usefulness, but alas for boyish imagin- 
ings. Dr. Houghton's skill as a geologist 
pointed to millions hidden in the earth, and 
he was drowned in Lake Superior, a victim 
to its angry waters, on its rock-bound 
shores." 

Another kinsman of Mrs. Bunnell's was 
Edward Houghton "to whom was con- 
veyed the supposed title of Jonathan Carver 
to the vast area known as the 'Carver 
tract.'" 

Dr. Bradley Bunnell (the father) and his 
wife had twelve children, six of whom died 
in childhood. In 1832, whenXafayette was 



Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M.D., Discoverer of the "\'osemite 



i8i 



eight years old, the family moved to Detroit, 
then a small French village, mostly depend- 
ent for its trade upon furs and peltries, and 
a gradually increasing demand for the white 
fish caught in the river. Another source of 
revenue was the lumber — pine and black 
walnut — cut from the virgin forests. Bun- 
nell says: "Eastern settlers began to come 
into the then new territory to occupy a 
part of the large area of vacant land, and, 
with their arrival, some money was put in 
circulation, but there was a good part of 
trade carried on by means of barter." 

Just before going up to Detroit, Lafayette 
had Asiatic cholera and remembered "its 
outbreak among the soldiers of the regular 
army on their way to take part in the Black 
Hawk War." General Winfield Scott com- 
manded the soldiers who were going to 
Fort Dearborn and several were quaran- 
tined at Detroit. 

Lafayette went to O'Brien's Catholic 
school, because "it was the best," although 
he was not a Roman Catholic. He tells of at- 
tending the funeral services of the Reverend 
Gabriel Richard, "Good Father Richard," 
founder of the Indian Missions of the Lakes 
(September 13, 1832), and says that Father 
Baraga, famous for his good inllucncc over 
the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and 
Father Richard were looked upon as saints. 
He recalls the sober Ottawa Indians "con- 
verted to an honorable religious life, by the 
Catholic Missionary Fathers," becoming 
"victims of their appetites for raw whiskey, 
that they drank not as most white men 
drink, but poured down their throat until 
oblivion cast its mantle over all that was 
human in their actions. At that date . . . 
and after . . . the Ottawas, and the older 
Chippewa bands of the upper lake region, 
assembled at Detroit to receive the annuities 
given them by our Government, and then, 
some of the Indians of the same bands 
would cross over to the Canadian shore of 
the strait, and there receive the subsidy 
that the British policy had continued as a 



reward for their services in scalping Ameri- 
cans, and harassing our frontier during the 
war of 1 81 2." 

Bunnell was in close sympathy with 
Indian and mixed-blood boys and French 
traders, and boasts, "I was vain enough not 
to allow an Indian (/or / ivas a ichite Ameri- 
can) to do what I could not. Or if he did, it 
was not for long, for 1 practised his art of 
swimming in the swift cool current of the 
Detroit river, paddled his birchen canoes 
until I could excel him in speed and endur- 
ence, and when the ice formed on that 
treacherous stream, I would skim over 
the thin ice on skates where his instinct 
would not allow him to venture. My folly, 
upon one occasion, met its reward in a 
very cold bath in the river, during which I 
was nearly drowned, but the lesson I 
remembered. The spirit of rivalry soon 
extended to my French boy companions, 
and the result was that, by this close asso- 
ciation, I soon 'picked up' a pretty good 
knowledge of bad French and some good 
Indian." 

He knew well the families of the "old 
French fur traders," particularly Old Daniel 
Campau and his brother Barnabas. Old 
Daniel had accompanied General Cass to 
the sources of the Mississippi in 1820, then 
became a trader and invested largely in 
land. "The Cass farm and the Campau 
lands comprised the greater part of Detroit" 
at that time. 

John B. Desnoyer was a "fur trader of 
long experience," whose daughter Matilda 
married Willard Bradley Bunnell, brother 
of our Lafayette. She was a splendid type 
of pioneer woman, refined, domestic and 
modest, yet brave and ready to meet 
emergencies. She could converse lluently 
with the Chippewas, Winnebagoes and 
Sioux and knew something of other dialects, 
and the Indians "respected and feared her 
although only a 'woman.'" 

Family reverses forced young Bunnell to 
leave school and go to work with Benjamin 



i8: 



Annals oj Medical History 



LeBritton, a druggist in Detroit. He was 
boarding at the American Hotel and, after 
it was destroyed by fire, at the Wales 
Hotel erected on its site. Here lived Henry 
R. Schoolcraft with his invalid wife and her 
Indian maid. With the maid Bunnell used 
to talk Chippewa; finding that her dialect 
differed from his, she explained it by saying 
that his Chippewa was French Chippewa 
while hers was real old Chippewa, "and I 
have never forgotten her distinction nor its 
usefulness when I hear Indian names lacer- 
ated. ... I think that the influences that 
surrounded my boyhood gave me a taste 
for frontier life, and certainly 'Old MacSob, ' 
an American Chippewa, as he called him- 
self, while annually staying with us during 
payments, gave shape to my determination 
to visit the upper lake country. . . . The 
old fellow once taught my father a lesson 
in hospitality that I have never forgotten. 
MacSob, who had been fishing through the 
ice with his little band, and selling his trout 
to shippers, came down to Detroit on the 
first boat. On that vessel were some excel- 
lent Mackinaw trout packed in ice, a large 
one of which my father bought and had it 
baked for dinner on the day of old Mac's 
arrival. Thinking to please the old Indian, 
after we had left the table he had Phyllis, a 
mulatto serving woman that had been in 
the family for years, place a plate for the 
old warrior, and invited him to partake of 
the trout. Old MacSob looked at the fish 
and then at 'Black Meat,' as he always 
called Phyllis, and cried out, 'Take him 
away! too much fish! all winter fish, fish, 
damn the fish ! Black Meat, give me some 
pork!'" The moral applied by Dr. Bunnell's 
father was: "Never give a guest what he 
has been feeding upon at home." 

The elder brother Willard Bunnell, who 
had been on the Lakes as cabin boy, wheel- 
man and pilot, gave up this life on the water 
after his marriage, and went into the fur 
trade, locating at Little Bay du Noquet, 
near the "present site of Escanaba;" he 



asked his father to let Lafayette "come up 
and assist him." 

Lafayette Bunnell was seventeen years old 
but, as he says, he "had been one of the 
original drummers and collectors for the 
drug house I was with, and for my age was 
a pretty good student of human nature; so 
that after some considerable delay my 
father gave his consent to my going." 
When he reached the point of meeting, his 
brother had departed and it was spring 
before he reached him. Willard was con- 
cerned about his health, fearing he would 
have "the family's hereditary disease, con- 
sumption of the lungs," and wished to 
move to the drier climate of the upper 
Mississippi. They were undecided as to the 
exact location for settling; Alexander Grig- 
non, a trader, urged the mouth of the river 
and "actually pictured to us, in graphic 
language, the lumber trade that would 
spring up, and the cities that would arise 
. . . but we were too obtuse to see things 
from his point of view." The choice finally 
lay between Trempealeau and Prairie La 
Crosse and Bunnell tells of Willard's "pick- 
ing up a chip and spitting on it, after the 
fashion of school-boy days, he said: 'Wet 
or dry — wet up, we go up; wet down, we 
go down.' It came down wet up, and that 
being my choice, we started up the river. 
By just such absurd and unreasonable 
incidents are our lives sometimes directed." 

They reached LaCrosse in June, 1842; 
passing "Catlin's Rocks" where Bunnell 
plainly saw the name of the artist, George 
Catlin (1796- 1 872), painted in red on the 
rocks (Catlin had painted Indian portraits 
in 1835). They moved on to Trempealeaus 
east of the river, and settled there. Later 
they settled at Holmes's Landing, where the 
winter of 1842- 1843 was spent. Bunnell', 
chief comment of this period is that "the 
comet stayed with us all winter." W'hen the 
ice left the river they returned to the cabin 
at Trempealeau, which began to take on a 
homelike aspect, aided by a fine garden. 



Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M.D., Discoverer of the Yosemite 183 



Bunnell says that his brother taught tlic 
secret of success by "never allowing a weed 
or blade of grass to grow in his garden." 

Bunnell was quick to learn the sign 
language and had a gift of making friends 
with the Indians; his Winnebago name was 
"Woon-gua-shu-shig-gar." He was then a 
child of the West in her pioneer days, an 
intrepid, restless, aggressive spirit, with 
but an ordinary school education, a keen 
observer with a retentive memory and 
powers of observation of h)calitics and 
natural events equal to an Indian. His 
large experience on the frontier made him 
a natural leader in coping with the raw 
energies of nature. In due time he expressed 
himself in writing freely and well, though 
with little polish. "Winona," wTitten in his 
later years, is a storehouse of precious facts 
relating to early days in the Middle West, 
especially along the upper Mississippi; here 
in retrospect we sit by the cradle of a great 
empire. One of the most interesting episodes 
is an account of an adventurous trading 
trip with a companion through Lake Pepin. 
Before starting, Bunnell had banked wood 
near LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and sold it. 
There was a scarcity of pilots and he was 
offered a position. He says: "I declined the 
oiler, but my taste and passion for beautiful 
scenery led me to study the river whenever 
I was travelling upon it." At times he took 
the pilot's place without compensation, and 
later he received pay for running steam- 
boat spars to St. Louis or hardwood logs 
for furniture to other places. Curiously 
enough, although a good marksman, he was 
not, like many similarly placed, a good 
hunter. 

In the autumn of 1843 he decided upon a 
claim at LaCrosse and plowed a furrow \\ith 
six yoke of cattle around 160 acres, taking 
in the greater part of the lower section of 
the present city. 

In 1844 he went after some lumber at 
Beef Slough, and worked the scheme with 
success; put some money into a lumber 



camp on the Chippewa, then started to 
bring his father and the family to occupy the 
claim at LaCrosse. His father had consented 
to migrate, hoping the change would im- 
prove the condition of three members of his 
family (a daughter, son, and grandson) who 
had consumption. These three died at La- 
Crosse in the spring of 1845. During the 
summer of 1845 ^ messenger came to 
Bunnell's logging camp, seven or eight 
miles below the mouth of the Eau Claire 
River, with news of his mother's death 
from heart disease. His father had now 
only a young daughter to live with, and w'as 
lonely and discontented, longing for his old 
home in Detroit and declaring that the 
younger Bunnell was wasting his life in a 
wilderness that would not be settled in 
fifty years. Bunnell says: 

He spoke of the howling, drunken Indians 
and the not much less brutal white men who 
made them drunk, and taken as he delivered 
it, it was a strong plea for my return with him 
to Detroit. I then had no thought of yielding 
to his persuasions, but told him of my prospects 
of realizing a goodly sum from my venture on 
the Chippewa, and ended by giving him ample 
funds, which I had saved, to return with my 
young sister to Detroit, where she had associa- 
tions that were dear to her, and I went back to 
my business on the Chippewa, and also to fill a 
contract I had in St. Louis for spars of large size 
for the lower ri\er trade. 

His father remained in LaCrosse until 
the next spring, then went to Detroit. 
Later, while Bunnell was in California, he 
returned to live in the "howling wilder- 
ness," and died of strangulated hernia, at 
Homer in 1856. 

Willard Bunnell and his family crossed 
the river from Trempealeau and settled 
at a place first known as Bunnell's Landing 
which later received its present name 
of Homer, in honor of the birthplace 
of Willard Bunnell, Homer, New York. 
Lafayette Bunnell helped to build the first 
"permanent house" at Homer, Minnesota, 



1 84 



Annals of Medical History 



and after his many adventures returned 
there and spent his last days in this house 
erected in 1844. 

He served in the Mexican War in 1847, 
and in 1849 it was inevitable, with his 
character and training, that he should seek 
gold in Cahfornia. His experiences in Cali- 
fornia form interesting reading in his own 
words, in his book "Discovery of the Yose- 
mite" (1880). He says in the beginning of 
his book: 




Autographed portrait of Lafayette Houghton Bunnell. 

During the winter of 1849-50, while ascending 
the old Bear Valley trail from Ridley's ferry, 
on the Merced river, my attention was attracted 
to the stupendous rocky peaks of the Sierra 
Nevadas. In the distance an immense cliff 
loomed, apparently to the summit of th 
mountains. Although familiar with nature 
in her wildest moods, I looked upon this awe- 
inspiring column with wonder and admiration. 
While vainly endeavoring to realize its peculiar 
prominence and vast proportions, I turned 
from it with reluctance to resume the search 
for coveted gold; but the impressions of that 
scene were indelibly fixed in my memory. 
Whenever an opportunity afforded, I made 
inquiries concerning the scenery of that locality. 
But few of the miners had noticed any of 
its special peculiarities. On a second visit 



to Ridley's, not long after, that towering 
mountain, which had so profoundly interested 
me was invisible, an intervening haze obscuring 
it from view. A year or more passed before the 
mysteries of this wonderful land were satis- 
factorily solved. 

The events which led to the discovery 
are as follows : James D. Savage, a trader, 
had two stores or trading posts, one on 
little Mariposa Creek, about 20 miles 
south of the town of Mariposa, the other 
on Fresno River, where friendly Indians 
used to congregate. Savage took an Indian 
chief, Jose Jerez, to San Francisco to witness 
the celebration of the admission of Cali- 
fornia as a state — October 29, 1850. While 
there the old chief became drunk and 
quarrelsome and Savage struck him. The 
Indian upon his return home roused his 
fellows against Savage and both his stores 
were attacked. Savage thought that an 
Indian war was beginning, and commenced 
to raise a volunteer battalion. He made an 
appeal for arms to the Governor, John 
McDougal, when hostilities began. After 
the "Mariposa Battalion" was formed and 
assigned to duty by Governor McDougal, 
there was a "period of preliminaries"; 
United States Commissioners arrived in 
camp, about fifteen miles below Mariposa 
village, and a few Indians came to parley 
with them; among the visiting Indians were 
Vow-ches-ter, chief of one of the more 
peaceful bands, and Russio, a Mission 
Indian. Vow-ches-ter said the mountain 
tribes would not make peace. Russio said, 
"The Indians in the deep rocky valley on 
the Merced River do not wish for peace, 
and will not come in to see the chiefs sent 
by the great father to make treaties. They 
think the white man cannot find their 
hiding places and that, therefore, they can- 
not be driven out." Vow-ches-ter further 
declared: "In this deep valley spoken of 
by Russio, one Indian is more than ten 
white men. The hiding places are many. 
They will throw rocks down on the white 



Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M.D., Disco\erer of the Yosemite 



185 



men, if any should come near them. The 
other tribes dare not make war upon them, 
for they are lawless like the grizzlies, and 
as strong. We are afraid to go to this 
valley, for there are many witches." 

Bunnell after this talk asked Savage, the 
interpreter, if he had ever visited the 
"deep valley" mentioned by the Indians. 
Savage first said that he had, but in a later 
conversation with Bunnell said that he was 
mistaken and explained as follows: 

Last year while I was located at the mouth 
of the South Fork of the Merced, I was attacked 
by the \ Osemites, but with the Indian miners 
I had in my employ, drove them off, and 
followed some of them up the Merced River into 
a canon, which I suppose led to their stronghold, 
as the Indians then with me said it was not a 
safe place to go into. From the appearance 
of this rocky gorge I had no difficulty in believ- 
ing them. Fearing an ambush, I did not follow 
them. It was on this account that I changed my 
position to Mariposa Creek. I would like to get 
into the den of the thieving murderers. If ever 
I have a chance I will smoke out the Grizzly 
Bears (the Yosemites) from their holes, where 
they are thought to be so secure. 

Bunnell says: 

The deliberative action on the part of the 
commissioners, who were very desirous of 
having the Indians voluntarily come in to make 
treaties with them, delayed any active coopera- 
tion on the part of our battalion until the winter 
rains had fully set in. Our first extended ex- 
pedition to the mountains was made during the 
prevailing storms of the vernal equinox, al- 
though detachments had previously made 
excursions into the country bordering upon the 
Sierras. This region, like parts of Virginia, 
proved impassable to a mounted force during 
the wet season, and our operations were conlined 
to a limited area. It was at last decided that 
more extended operations were necessary to 
bring in the mountain tribes. 

Bunnell next describes the starting out: 

Notwithstanding a storm was gathering, our 
preparations were cheerfully made, and when 



the order to "form into line" was given It w-as 
obeyed with alacrity. No "bugle call" 
announced orders to us; the "details" were 
made quietly, and we as quietly assembled. 
Promptly as the word of command "mount 
was given, every saddle was filled. With "for- 
ward march" we naturally iiled off into the 
order of march so readily assumed by mounted 
frontiersmen while traveling on a trail. 

We left our camp as quietly and as orderly as 
such an undisciplined body could be expected 
to move, but Major James D. Savage said that 
we must all learn to be as still as Indians, or we 
would never find them. 

This battalion was a body of hardy, resolute 
pioneers. Many of them had seen ser\Ice, 
and had fought their way against the Indians 
across the plains; some had served in the 
war with Mexico and had been under military 
discipline. . . . 

The temperature was mild and agreeable 
at our camp near the plain, but we began to 
encounter storms of cold rain as we reached the 
more elevated localities. 

Major Savage being aware that rain on the 
foothills and plain at that season of the year 
indicated snow higher up, sent forward scouts 
to Intercept such parties as might attempt to 
escape, but the storm continued to rage with 
such violence as to render this order useless, 
and we found the scouts awaiting us at the foot 
of a mountain known as the Black Ridge. This 
ridge Is a spur of the Sierra Nevadas. It sepa- 
rates the Mariposa, Chowchilla, Fresno and 
San Joaquin Rivers on the south from the 
Merced on the north. 

An account is given of the approach to the 
village of the Yosemites; then Bunnell says: 

We suddenly came in full view of the valley 
in which was the village, or rather the encamp- 
ments, of the Yosemites. The immensity of 
rock I had seen In my vision on the Old Bear 
trail from Ridley's Ferry was here presented 
to my astonished gaze. The mystery of that 
scene was here disclosed. My awe was Increased 
by this nearer view. The face of the Immense 
clifT was shadowed by the declining sun; its 
outlines only had been seen at a distance. This 
towering mass. 



1 86 



Annals of Medical History 



"Fools our fond gaze, and greatest of the 

great 
Defies at first our Nature's littleness, 
Till, growingwith (to) its growth, we thusdilate 
Our spirits to the size of that they contem- 
plate." 

That stupendous cliff is now known as 
"El Capitan" (the Captain) and the plateau 
from which we had our first view of the valley, 
as Mount Beatitude. 

It has been said that it is not easy to describe 
in words the precise impressions which great 
objects make upon us. I cannot describe how 
completely I realized this truth. None but those 
who have visited this most wonderful valley 
can even imagine the feelings with which I 
looked upon the view that was there presented. 
The grandeur of the scene was but softened by 
the haze that hung over the valley — light as 
gosamer — and by the clouds which partially 
dimmed the higher cliffs and mountains. This 
obscurity of vision but increased the awe with 
which I beheld it, and as I looked, a peculiar 
exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being, 
and I found my eyes in tears with emotion. 

During many subsequent visits to this local- 
ity, this sensation was never again so fully 
aroused. It is probable that the shadows fast 
closing all before me, and the vapory clouds at 
the head of the valley, leaving the view be- 
yond still undefined, gave a weirdness to the 
scene, that made it so impressive; and the con- 
viction that it was utterly undescribable added 
strength to the emotion. It is not possible for 
the same intensity of feeling to be aroused more 
than once by the same object, although I never 
looked upon these scenes except with wonder 
and admiration. 

. . . Our imagination had been misled by 
the descriptive misrepresentations of savages, 
whose prime object was to keep us from their 
safe retreat, until we had expected to see some 
terrible abyss. The reality so little resembled 
the picture of imagination, that my astonish- 
ment was the more overpowering. 

To obtain a more distinct and quiet view, I 
had left the trail and my horse and wallowed 
through the snow alone to a projecting granite 
rock. So interested was I in the scene before me, 
that I did not observe that my comrades had 



all moved on, and that I would soon be left 
indeed alone. My situation attracted the atten- 
tion of Major Savage — who was riding in rear 
of the column — who hailed me from the trail 
below with "you had better wake up from that 
dream up there, or you may lose your hair; I 
have no faith in Ten-ie-ya's statement that 
there are no Indians about here. We had better 
be moving; some of the murdering devils 
may be lurking along this trail to pick off 
stragglers." I hurriedly joined the major on the 
descent, and as other views presented them- 
selves, I said with some enthusiasm, "If my 
hair is now required, I can depart in peace, for 
I have here seen the power and glory of a 
Supreme Being; the majesty of His handywork 
is in that 'Testimony of the Rocks'. That mute 
appeal — pointing to El Capitan — illustrates 
it, with more convincing eloquence than can the 
most powerful arguments of surpliced priests." 
"Hold up. Doc! you are soaring too high for me; 
and perhaps for yourself. This is rough riding; 
we had better mind this devilish trail, or we shall 
go soaring over some of these slippery rocks." 
We, however, made the descent in safety. 

Bunnell says: 

My devout astonishment at the supreme 
grandeur of the scenery by which I was sur- 
rounded continued to engross my mind. . . . 

After supper, guards stationed, and the camp 
fires plentifully provided for, we gathered 
around the burning logs of oak and pine, found 
near our camp. The hearty supper and cheerful 
blaze created a general good feeling. Social 
converse and anecdotes — mingled with jokes — 
were freely exchanged, as we enjoyed the solace 
of our pipes and warmed ourselves preparatory 
to seeking further refreshment in sleep. While 
thus engaged I retained a full consciousness 
of our locality; for being In close proximity 
to the huge cliff that had so attracted my 
attention, my mind was frequently drawn away 
from my comrades. After the jollity of the camp 
had somewhat subsided, the valley became the 
topic of conversation around our camp fire. 
None of us at the time surmised the extreme 
vastness of those cliffs; although dark, we had 
seen El Capitan looking down upon our camp, 
while the "Bridal Veil" was being wafted in the 
breeze. Many of us j'elt the mysterious grandeur 



Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M.D., Discoverer of the Yosemite 187 



of the scenery, as defined by our limited oppor- 
tunity to study it. I had- pre\ ious to my descent 
with the major— observed the toucrin^ height 
over us of the old "Rock Chief," and noticing 
the length of the steep descent into the valley, 
had at least some idea of its solemn immensity. 

It may appear sentimental, but the coarse 
jokes of the careless, and the indilference of the 
practical, sensibly jarred my more devout 
feelings, while this subject was a matter of 
general conversation; as if a sacred subject had 
been ruthlessly profaned, or the visible power 
of Deity disregarded. After relating my observa- 
tions from the "old Bear Valley Trail," I 
suggested that this valley should have an 
appropriate name by which to designate it, 
and in a tone of pleasantry said to Tunnehill, 
who was drying his wet clothing by our fire, 
"You are the first white man that ever received 
any form of baptism in this valley (Tunnehill 
with the mule he was riding had during the trail 
been immersed, unexpectedly taking a plunge 
bath in the ice-cold waters of the Merced), and 
you should be the proper person to give a 
baptismal name to the valley itself." He replied, 
"If whiskey can be provided for such a cere- 
mony, I shall be happy to participate; but if it is 
to be another cold-water affair, I have no desire 
to take a hand. I have done enough in that fine 
for tonight." Timely jokes and ready repartee 
for a time changed the subject, but in the lull of 
this exciting pastime, someone remarked, "I 
like Bunnell's suggestion of giving this valley a 
name, and tonight is a good time to do it." 
"All right — if you have got one, show your 
hand," was the response of another. Differ- 
ent names were proposed but none were 
satisfactory to a majority of our circle. Some 
romantic and foreign were offered, but I 
observed that a very large number were canon- 
ical and Scripture names. From this I inferred 
that I was not the only one in whom religious 
emotions or thoughts had been aroused by the 
mysterious power of the surrounding scenery. 

As I did not take a fancy to any of the names 
proposed, I remarked that "an American name 
would be the most appropriate;" that "I could 
not see any necessity for going to a foreign 
country for American scenery — the grandest 
that had ever yet been looked upon. That it 



would be better to give it an Indian name than 
to import a strange and inxepress\e one; that 
the name of the tribe who had occupied it 
wovild be more appropriate than any I had 
heard suggested." I then proposed that we 
give the name of ^'o-sem-i-ty, as it was sugges- 
tive, euphonious, and certainly American; 
that by so doing, the name of the tribe of 
Indians which we met leaving their homes in 
this valley, perhaps never to return, would be 
perpetuated." I was here interrupted by Mr. 
Tunnehill, who impatiently' exclaimed: "Devil 
take the Indians and their names! Why should 
we honor these vagabond murderers by per- 
petuating their names?" Another said: "I agree 
with Tunnehill — the Indians and their names. 
Mad Anthony's plan for me! Let's call this 
Happy Valley." In reply I said to the last 
speaker: "Still, for a young man with such 
religious teridencies they would be good objects 
on which to develop your Christianity." Unex- 
pectedly a hearty laugh was raised, which 
broke up further discussion, and before oppor- 
tunity was given for any others to object to the 
name, John O'Neil, a rollicking Texan of 
Captain Boling's Company, vociferously an- 
nounced to the whole camp the subject of our 
discussion, by saying, "Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear 
ye! A vote will now be taken to decide what 
name shall be given to this valley." The question 
of gi\ing it the name of Yo-sem-i-ty was then 
explained and upon a viva voce vote being taken, 
it was almost unanimously adopted. The name 
that was then and thus adopted by us, while 
seated around our camp fires, on the first visit 
of a white man to this remarkable locality. Is the 
name bj' which it Is now know n to the world. 

Bunnell says: "When we sought our 
repose it was with feelings of quiet satisfac- 
tion that I wrapped myself in my blankets, 
and soundly slept." 

The signification of the name, "a grizzly 
bear," was not at that time generally 
known to the Battalion, Bunnell says, and 
the pronunciation was not uniform. Bunnell 
considered Major Savage the best author- 
ity for the correct pronunciation, and he 
said that Ten-ie-ya (the old chief of the 
tribe) pronounced it Yo-sem-i-ty although 



1 88 



Atximls oj Medical History 



some other bands pronounced it 0-soom- 
i-ty, and said it signified "a full-grown 
grizzly bear," and was given to Ten-ic-ya's 
band because of their "lawless and preda- 
tory character." 

Lieutenant Moore, of the U. S. A., in his 
report of an expedition to the valley in 1852, 
substituted e as the terminal letter, in place of 
y in use by us; no doubt thinking the use of e 
more scholarly, or perhaps supposing Yosemite 
to be of Spanish derivation. This orthography 
has been adopted, and Is in general use, but the 
proper pronunciation, as a consequence, is not 
always attainable to the general reader. 

Ten-Ie-ya repudiated the name for the valley, 
but proudly acknowledged it as the designation 
of his band, claiming that when he was a young 
chief, this name had been selected because they 
occupied the mountains and valleys which were 
the favorite resort of the Grizzly Bears, and 
because his people were expert in killing them. 
That his tribe had adopted the name because 
those who had bestowed It were afraid of 
"the Grizzlies" and feared his band. 

"Ah-wah-ne," the Indian name for their 
valley, was not known to Bunnell until 
the name "Yosemite" had been gener- 
ally accepted. In 1855, J. M. Hutchings 
visited and published an account of the 
Yosemite, giving the name of Yo-Hamite, 
but after a long discussion of this point, he 
wrote, "Had we before known that Doctor 
Bunnell and his party were the first whites 
who entered. . .we should long ago have 
submitted to the name Dr. Bunnell had 
given it, as the discoverer of the valley."^ 

Hutchings later says, "For early records 
of the Valley I am mainly indebted to Dr. 
L. H. Bunnell, who was not only one of 
its first visitors and discoverers, but its 
earliest and principal historian."^ He says 

-Hutchings, J. M.: Scenes of Wonder and Curi- 
osity in Calilornia. New York and San Francisco, 
1871. 

'Hutchings, J. M.: In the Heart of tlie Sierras; 
the Yosemite Valley. Yosemite Valley and Oakland, 
Cal., 1886. 



of Bunnell's book that it is "an invaluable 
and deeply interesting narrative of personal 
observation and adventure." 

Dr. Bunnell wrote on the Yosemite, his 
statement appearing in Hutchings's Cali- 
Jornia Magazine, signed by himself and 
ccrtiiied to by two members of the Cali- 
fornia legislature — James M. Roan and 
George H. Crenshaw — who were in the 
expedition. Attention once called to the 
Yosemite and its discovery, voices for other 
claimants were heard. The one which seems 
to be most worthy of consideration was 
that of Joseph Walker. Mr. Williams says 
that — "History has done scant justice to 
Joseph Reddeford Walker. . . He was the 
first white visitor to the Yosemite region." 
The claim has been made that he "dis- 
covered and camped in the Yosemite Val- 
ley. . .The evidence available hardly seems 
to sustain this claim in full. . . On his 
gravestone in Alhambra Cemetery, at Mar- 
tinez, Cal., is the following: 'Camped at 
Yosemite, November 13, 1833'. . . We 
may accept 'Camped at Yosemite,' but are 
we warranted in assuming that 'at' means 
'in'?"^ Mr. Williams adds, "Dr. Bunnell's 
account of it, and of the I ndian war of 1 85 1 , 
of which it is a part, is a frontier classic, 
with Tenaya as its hero." 

In 1880 Walker's claim was "set up" 
in the San Jose Pioneer, and answered by 
Bunnell in the same paper. Bunnell says, 
in his book: 

I cheerfully concede the fact. . . that "His 
were the first white man's eyes that ever looked 
upon the Yosemite" above the valley, and In 
that sense, he was certainly the original white 
discoverer. The topography of the country 
over which the Mono trail ran, and which was 
followed by Capt. Walker, did not admit of his 
seeing the valley proper. The depression indica- 
ting the valley, and its magnificent surround- 
ings could alone have been discovered, and In 
Capt. Walker's conversations with me at 

■■Williams, J. H.: Yosemite and Its High Sierras. 
Takoma and San Francisco, 1914. 



Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M.D., Discoverer of the Vosemite 189 



various times while encamped between Coulters- 
ville and the Yosemite, he was manly enough to 
say so. . . .1 told Capt. Wallver that Ten-ie-ya 
had said that, "A small party of white men 
once crossed the mountains on the north side, 
but were so guided as not to see the valley 
proper." With a smile the captain said: "That 
was my party, but I was not deceived, for the 
lay of the land showed there was a valley below; 
but we had become nearly barefooted, our 
animals poor, and ourselves on the verge of 
star\ation, so we followed down the ridge to 
Bull Occk, where, killing a deer, we went into 
camp.". . . I was strongly impressed by the 
simple and upright character of Captain Walker. 
. . . All that I have ever claimed for myself 
is, that I was one of the party of white men 
who first entered the Yosemite Valley as far 
as known to the Indians. 

Biiiincll further says that Captain Walker 
told him that he "once passed quite near 
the valley on one of his mountain trips; 
but that his Ute and Mono guides gave 
such a dismal account of the caiions of both 
rivers, that he kept his course near to the 
divide until reaching Bull Creek, when he 
descended and went into camp, not seeing 
the valley proper." 

Walker's River, Lake, and Pass were 
named for Joseph Walker. It is to be noticed 
that Bunnell's name is nowhere attached to 
any point connected with the Yosemite, and 
even the government publications I have 
seen fail to associate his name with the dis- 
covery of the Yosemite. On the contrary a 
statement reads: 

The Yosemite was discovered to the world 
in 1 85 1 by Captain John Boling, while pursuing 
hostile Indians, with a detachment of mounted 
volunteers. 

The Indians called it the heart of the Sky 
Mountain, or Ahwanee, "the deep grass valley." 

'^ United States Railroad Administratiun. National 
Park Series. Yosemite National Park, California. 

"General Information Regarding ^'osemite Na- 
tional Park, 1919. Washington, 191Q, Government 
Printing Ollice. 

'Maltlies, F. E.: Sketch of \'osemite National 



Later the name Yo Semite was given to the 
valley, its meaning being "the great grizzly 
bear," and subsequently, when the National 
Park was established, this famous name was 
retained.^ 

Another publication also says: "The Yose- 
mite Valley was discovered in 1851 by 
Captain John Boling," etc.*^ 

Another publication declares that "the 
valley was discovered in 1851; when a 
detachment of mounted volunteers, under 
Capt. John Boling, in an elfort to put an 
end to the depredations of the Indians that 
infested the region, pursued them to their 
mountain stronghold. The tales the soldiers 
brought back of the marvelous scenery of 
the valley induced J. M. Hutchings, who 
was then gathering data on California 
scenery, to organize in 1855 ^" exploratory 
expedition to the Yosemite Valley."' 

Galen Clark, who in 1857 discovered the 
Mariposa Grove of big trees, makes no 
mention of Bunnell in his book.^ He went to 
California from New England in 1853, two 
years after the discovery of the Yosemite. 
He was made guardian of the Yosemite 
Valley. 

John Muir gives an excellent and brief 
account of the discovery of the Yosemite, 
without, however, paying much attention to 
Dr. Bunnell. He says "After supper, seated 
around a big fire, the wonderful Valley 
became the topic of conversation and Dr. 
Bunnell suggested giving it a name. Many 
were proposed, but after a vote had been 
taken the name 'Yosemite,' proposed by Dr. 
Bunnell, was adopted almost unanimously 
to perpetuate the name of the tribe who so 
long had made their home there. "'* (Muir 
spells the name "Buncll.") 

Bunnell's book on the discovery a|)peared 

Park and Account of the Origin oi' the ^'osemite 
and Hetch Metcliy Valleys. Depaitruent of the 
Interior, Washington, 1912. 

*Clark, Galen.: The Yosemite Valley. Yosemite 
Valley, Cal., iQii. 

''Muir J.: The ^Osemite. New ^ ork, 1912. 



1 90 



Annals nj Medical History 



in 1880;'° in 1890 a discussion in T/je Century 
Magazine^^ brought from Dr. Bunnell a 
response giving a clear and definite account 
of the event. An abstract is given here: 

I did not fix the day of the month, but 
remembered that the discovery occurred during 
a long-continued rain and snow storm at about 
the time of the vernal equinox. That statement 
was verified at the time by James M. Roan and 
George H. Crenshaw, two comrades who, with 
the writer, were the first white men to enter the 
vahey, and who were then members of the 
Cahfornia legislature. . . . Major Savage, our 
commander, had waited at our camp in the foot- 
hills knowing that rain below indicated snow 
in the mountains, and that by marching in and 
through the storm we would be most hkely to 
surprise and capture the hostile Indians. 

Bunnell tells of the march, then: 

Fortunately we had provided barley for our 
animals, and they did not suffer for lack of 
forage. After an Indian village was captured, 
Indian runners were dispatched to bring into 
headquarters the Indians in hiding; but no 
response was made by the Yosemites. Upon a 
special envoy being sent Ten-ie-ya, their chief, 
came alone, and stood in dignified silence before 
one of the guard until ordered into camp. 
Ten-ie-ya was immediately recognized and 
kindly cared for, and after he had been 
well supplied with food Major Savage in- 
formed him of the orders of the Indian Com- 
mission under whom we were acting. The old 
sachem was very suspicious, but finally agreed 
to conduct an expedition into his beloved 
valley. 

Only a few men were required for this service, 
though all volunteered, notwithstanding it had 
been represented that horses might not be able 
to pass along the rocky trail. Finally a foot race 
was ordered to determine the fleetness, and 
consequent fitness, of those most anxious to go; 
some in their anxiety to win the race ran bare- 
foot in the snow. 

'"Bunnell, L. H.: Discovery of the Yosemite and 
the Indian War which led to that Event. Chicago, 
1880. 3rd ed., N. Y., 1892. 4th ed., Los Angeles, 
191 1, G. W. Gerlicher. 

^^ Century Magazine, 1890, xl, 795-797. 



Here follows an account of the expedi- 
tion through snow from three to five feet 
deep, and in some places deeper; and 
Bunnell goes on with: 

The trip was looked upon as likely to be only 
an exploration of some mysterious canon. The 
importance of recording the date of the dis- 
covery of the Yosemite did not impress itself 
upon my mind at the time, for I became 
completely absorbed in the sublimity of my 
surroundings. It seemed to me that I had entered 
God's holiest temple, where were assembled 
all that was most divine in material creation. 
For days afterward I could only think of the 
magnificence, beauty and grace of the water- 
falls, and of the mountain scenery; and an 
almost total lack of appreciation of the event 
on the part of Major Savage caused me to 
think him utterly void of sentiment. 

Such experiences were not likely to have 
been soon forgotten, and hence my surprise 
when I saw in print the statement that the 
Yosemite Valley was first entered by the Mari- 
posa Battalion on May 5 or 6, 1851, when the 
rainy season would have been past. This state- 
ment is said to have been officially made by our 
adjutant, and if so, must refer to the date of our 
second entrance, as our adjutant was not with 
us on our first entrance or discovery. 

Bunnell says that: 

Adjutant Lewis was a most genial, kind- 
hearted gentleman, but I never knew any duties 
he performed in the field. 

As a matter of fact, our Adjutant was not 
with us when the discovery was made in March, 
nor were there ever but two companies in the 
Yosemite at any time, Boling's and part of 
Dill's. Captain Dill himself was detailed for 
duty at the Fresno, after the expedition in 
March, as was also the adjutant. In making out 
his report, Mr. Lewis must have ignored the 
first entry of the valley by the few men who 
discovered it, and made his first entry to appear 
as the date of the discovery. This may or may 
not have been done to give importance to the 
operations of the battalion. I have never seen 
the report. 

I do not wish to call in question the motives 
of our officers, but our little squad who first 



Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M.D., Discoverer of the Yosemite 191 



entered the \alley should ha\c the tredit of the 
discovery, let it be what it may. 

Bunnell goes on to say that he saw 
El Capitan from Mount Bullion as early as 
1840, but nothing could be learned of it. 
Tcn-ic-ya and other Yosemites said they 
were the very first to enter the valley and it 
could not have been entered without their 
knowledge. They left after two nights en- 
campment, a slight lall ot snow making 
them fearful ol being cut oti from supplies. 

The Mariposa Battalion was mustered out 
July 25, 1851. The lirst attack on Savage had 
been in May, 1850; hostilities ceased with 
the capture of Ten-ie-ya and his band in 
June, 1 85 1. "Lieutenant Treadwell Moore, 
U.S.A., caught and executed live Yosemites 
in 1852, but no war followed." Bunnell 
continues: 

Comrade Starkcy of our old Battalion was 
murdered in 1853. His murderers were pursued 
by Under-Sheriff James M. Rt)an, also a 
comrade, and when overtaken three of them 
were killed, and the others put to flight. Mr. 
Moore was compelled to notice the criticisms of 
the press, and in doing so, in 1854, became the 
lirst to draw attention to the scenery. In 1855 
Mr. Hutchings first visited it, and since that 
date has done more to bring the valley into 
public and appreciati\e notice than any other 
man. 

Alter the Mari|)osa Battalion was 
mustered out, Bunnell remained in Cali- 
fornia, trading, mining, and surxcying, as 
late as 1856. He returned to his early home 
in the Middle West and on April 18, 1861, 
at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, enlisted in the 
United States Army. He was appointed 
hospital steward July 22, 1861, and dis- 
charged in May, 1862. 

He enlisted in "Company B, Second 
Wisconsin Cavalry Volunteers in Novem- 
ber, 1863, and was discharged March i, 1865, 
to accept a commission as assistant-surgeon 
Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers. 
He became surgeon in July, 1865, and was 



mustered out with the regiment the same 
month and year."'- His war record included 
service in the Mexican War, the Lidian \\ ar 
of 1 85 1, and the Ci\ il War. 

"M.D." appears after his name on the 
title-page of each of his books, but the fact 
of his medical education has been most 



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* • ,-^<--' ■ "—••-■--.-"•.-• V/ -'' ..... , ' 



Diplcirii:i of Lai AVET-rE lIouciiTON Bunnell 

dillicult to establish. The I act that he 
had a degree, however, has been delinitely 
settled by the discovery of his medical 
diploma now In the possession ol the 
Minnesota Historical Society; a photo- 
graphic copy has been furnished me through 
the courtesy of Mr. Solon J. Buck, su|)erin- 
tendcnt of the Society, who has also given 
further valuable data concerning Bunnell, 
prepared by Miss B. L. Heilbron, his 
assistant. 

At the age ol sixteen Bunnell was taken 
Into his father's office to study medicine, 

''Auiicry, .1. .M.: The Thirty-sixth Wisconsin 
Infantry (Arni^- of the Potomac). 



192 



Annals of Medical History 



"much against his will;" and for nearly two 
years he read, and attended private clinics 
and demonstrations. After some experi- 
ences of frontier life he again turned to medi- 
cine, studying with Dr. Scoville at Detroit, 
but gave up to enter the Mexican War. 
While his regiment was quartered at Cor- 
dova, Mexico, he had charge of the hospital, 
and was in medical charge of a battalion 
at the close of the war. 

On October 20, 1864, he received M.D., 
designated "honorary," from LaCrosse 
Medical College, which was instituted in 




Sarah Smith Bunnell 
(Mrs. L. H. Bunnell) 

the autumn of that year. The episode of 
this college is a brief and ahiiost forgotten 
chapter of Wisconsin medical history.^' Its 
charter was granted April 18, 1864, to 
Dugald D. Cameron, P. S. McArthur, 
J. B. G. Baxter, WiUiam L. Kennett, Ewen 
H. McMillan, William T. Wenzell and 
Augustus Brummel, as charter members." 

^^ History of LaCrosse County, Wisconsin, 1881. 




Grave of tlie late Dr. Bunnell In Woodlawn Cemetery, 
Winona, Minnesota. Marked by the G. A. R. emblem. 

As he grew old his chief occupations were 
reading, writing and gardening. At the age 
of seventy-three he made the valuable con- 
tribution to local history referred to, entitled 
"Winona."^" 

After the Civil War he settled at Homer, 
Minnesota. He married Sarah Smith, 
daughter of Joel and Anna Smith, early 
settlers, and sister of Edward S. Smith, 
prominent in railroad and other interests. 
They had no children. Bunnelldied at Homer 
on July 21, 1903, and was buried at Wood- 
lawn Cemetery, at Winona. His grave is 

'""Dr. William Snow Miller is in possession of inter- 
esting facts relating to this ephemeral institution and 
will doubtless publish tliem. 

'^Winona and Its Environs on the Mississippi in 
Ancient and Modern Days. Winona, 1897. 



Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M.D., Discoverer of the ^'osemite 



•93 



marked solely by the G. A. R. emblem with 
the small Has;. He is buried in the family lot 
of his brother-in-law, E. S. Smith. The large 
shaft is the Smith family monument.'^ 

The eredit of the discovery belongs to 
Bunnell, for after seeing the Yosemite Valley 
at a distance his interest and poetic imagi- 
nation were whetted by its seeming grand- 
eur and he kept turning it over in his 
mind for two years; he alone of the little 

'^Information and photograph through the kind- 
ness of Judge H. L. Buck, postmaster, Winona, 
Minn. 



group that entered on a punitory expedition 
went eager and thrilled with the zest of 
discovery. He fully appreciated the oppor- 
tunity, and was filled with a sense of mystery. 
His companions were impassive and unim- 
pressed, while he was exulting in the glories 
that unfolded before them; he became its 
baptismal sponsor and gave the valley its 
euphonious name and later wrote about it 
in a never failing spirit of enthusiasm. 

For these reasons we claim that Dr. 
Lafayette Houghton Bunnell was the true 
discoverer, about March 21, 1851. 



A MEMORIAL STONE FOR THE GRAVE OF DR. BUNNELL 



As Dr. Kelly states, the grave of Dr. 
Bunnell remains unmarked save for the 
G. A. R. emblem. 

Dr. Kelly asks that those who feel inter- 
ested in the plan forward such amounts as 
they may choose to give for the purpose. 

It is to be hoped that such an oppor- 



tunity to honor a real medical pioneer will 
not be neglected by the members of his 
profession. One dollar will be gladly re- 
ceived as a donation. 

Those desiring to contribute should send 
their contribution to Dr. Howard A. Kelly, 
1406 Eutaw Place, Baltimore, Md. 



H 73 78 544' 



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